Bears ride the ski tow?

Someone moved my stuff.

I've turned the house upside-down this morning looking for a pink confetti Chinese Laundry shoebox filled with metal tubes of acrylic paint, paintbrushes, and a cheap plastic palette (haven't seen it, eh?). After searching far and wide, I inquired among my family members, who each referred me to another warm body. The goose chase ends with dear old Dad, who's conveniently at work at the moment, and who "probably threw it out." Excellent.

So in my idle time, I'm enjoying this great Nickelodeonesque (the television network, not the jukebox/movie theatre) artwork from Galerie Chamonix. I'm thinking of reproducing the Sauvons les tire-fesses! piece to hang on my wall.

I'll sign it Charlie Adam, of course.

"Sauvons les tire-fesses! Association de défense des remontes-pentes obsolètes"

Hiking up my pants

Kentucky this morning is drizzly and grey.

According to statistical analysis of past adventures, this type of weather is one of the requirements for my friends and I to go hiking in Grenoble. Other stipulations: the hike must take longer than expected, and someone has to fall at least once.

Voici quelques photos des randonnées du premier semestre à Grenoble:

the Belledonne Massif as seen from Mont Jalla

the path below my house

a view of Mont Saint-Eynard from La Bastille

the colors of autumn up on La Bastille

a mountain blowing smoke rings as seen from Mont Saint-Eynard

Mont Saint-Eynard looms in the haze

hills in Saint Martin-le-Vinoux

Saint Martin-le-Vinoux, cont.

Sunset in Echirolles

"I romp through the fields." Echirolles.

Life after France

I'm currently streaming Radio France's France Info channel: at the moment, critics at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival discuss Michael Haneke's film Le ruban blanc.

Listening to French radio is one way I want to supplement my language studies while stateside. I just returned to Kentucky from a nine-month séjour in Europe (with a couple of stops in North Africa), and I'm in the process of readjusting to life on this side of the Atlantic.

Three days back and my stomach aches, I can't sleep for more than seven hours, and I have an aversion to driving, which seems a gruesome chore.

Hopefully, I'll replant my roots in time to enjoy summer in the Bluegrass.